The crisis rocking the Bauchi State House of Assembly deepened on Monday as hoodlums attacked some lawmakers and injured many of them.
The hoodlums were said to have stormed a Guest House located on Sir Kashim Ibrahim Road, a few metres from the state Government House and attacked the lawmakers who were holding a meeting.
The hoodlums reportedly injured six members, smashed cars and windows of the house and turned everything in the house upside down.
The incident was said to have happened at about 4pm on Monday.
The development came a few hours after suspected arsonists attempted to burn down the House of Assembly complex but were prevented by security agents.
Following the incident, a combined team of security agents compromising men of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Army, was immediately drafted to the scene.
As of the time of filing this report, the security agents were still guarding the complex to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
A lawmaker, Ado Wakili, representing Burra Constituency in Ningi Local Government Area of the state, who was one of those injured, alleged that the hoodlums were armed with guns and other weapons.
He said, “We were inside having a meeting when we suddenly heard noise and banging at the gate, as we rushed out to see what was happening, the hoodlums rushed in holding guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
“All of us scampered for safety, and in the process, many of us, including me, were injured as you can see on my face just below my eyes.
“They really turned everything upside down. By the time we came out, they had smashed all our cars and the windows of the house.”
The immediate past Speaker of the House, Kawuwa Shehu-Damina, who also confirmed the incident condemned it, saying that it was uncalled for.
He wondered that it was not yet campaign period and this is happening saying, “In a situation like this, violence cannot solve the problem, it will only aggravate it.
“All that is required is for us to sit down and dialogue in order to have a solution to the problem. It is simply a misunderstanding among members of the House.”
The PUNCH had reported last Friday that leadership crisis erupted in the state House of Assembly following the demand by 22 members who passed a vote of no confidence on the Speaker and principal officers.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, who is also the Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, is currently in Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage.
Suleiman had recently defected from the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party.
With his defection, the APC currently has 16 members while the PDP has 15.
The 22 members who passed the vote of no confidence on the Speaker and other principal officers are seven members of the PDP and 15 from the APC.
